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 Army identifies helicopter pilot Capt. Rebecca Lobach among 67 killed in DC plane collision. Here are some of their stories
David Williams Amanda Jackson Haley Britzky
By Alaa Elassar, Samantha Waldenberg, Taylor Galgano, David Williams, Amanda Jackson, Jessica Coacci and Haley Britzky, CNN
17 minute read
Updated 5:24 PM EST, Sat February 1, 2025

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/31/us/dc-plane-crash-victims/index.html

 Female Black Hawk pilot ‘excelled in everything’

The female Black Hawk pilot who was co-piloting the aircraft when it collided with the passenger plane this week was a “driven and hardworking” officer who “was made for” Army aviation, those who knew her recalled to CNN on Saturday.

The Army officially identified the pilot as Capt. Rebecca Lobach, 28, one of the three-person crew inside the UH-60 Black Hawk. While the Army released the names of the other two soldiers on board the Black Hawk on Friday, Lobach’s name had been withheld at her family’s request.

CNN previously reported Lobach was co-piloting the Black Hawk at the time of the collision on Wednesday evening.

A statement released Saturday by the Lobach family called her a “bright star” who was “kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong.”

“Rebecca was a warrior and would not hesitate to defend her country in battle. But she was as graceful as she was fierce: in addition to her duties as an Army aviator, Rebecca was honored to serve as a White House Military Social Aide, volunteering to support the President and First Lady in hosting countless White House events, including ceremonies awarding the Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” the family’s statement said.

Capt. Bilal Kordab, an Army officer who recruited Lobach into the North Carolina National Guard while she was a student at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, told CNN Lobach was “a driven and hardworking individual that absolutely worked her tail off” to accomplish what she did.

“She was not handed anything. She was more than qualified for anything that she was able to accomplish,” Kordab said. “She excelled in everything,” including flight school. Lobach commissioned into the Army as an active-duty aviation officer from the ROTC program at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2019.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Sabrina Bell, who now serves in Alaska but who previously served with Lobach in the same company at the 12th Aviation Battalion, told CNN Lobach was “head-over-heels motivated” from the moment she arrived at the unit.

As an officer, Lobach had a unique ability to connect with not only her soldiers but the leaders above her, Bell said. “I can easily say she is one of the best leaders that I have ever had,” Bell said.

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2 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

Army identifies helicopter pilot Capt. Rebecca Lobach among 67 killed in DC plane collision.

Certain mentally ill people are currently doing everything they can to destroy her reputation and her family.  Claiming she deliberately flew into the airplane, that she was working for the CIA, that she couldn’t afford her house, etc.   

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eaves 1000 hours

o'hara & lobach 500 hours each

training run was for "evacuation of potus/cabinet mission"

this was not training of "new" or "junior" pilots

imho the mh-60 boxes will be the tell

i remain of the opinion that the mh-60 was looking at the wrong jet either on approach to or departing runway 1

AND

the tower due to overtasking did not ask the mh-60 if they had the rj re-route from 1 to 33

AND

did the mh-60 have the rj traffic at 5 o'clock

 

salvage ops for the rj not yet underway

there is new data in this article

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/recovery-efforts-american-airlines-plane-crash-dc/63632198

 

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11 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

training run was for "evacuation of potus/cabinet mission"

If POTUS or a cabinet member is being evacuated via Black Hawk, something bad has gone down and I would speculate that DCA’s airspace would be closed so I’m not sure how realistic this training mission is. Seems like the protocol would be that if high level government officials need to be evacuated in an emergency that the first thing you do is close the DC airspace to commercial and private traffic.

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Just now, royiv said:

If POTUS or a cabinet member is being evacuated via Black Hawk, something bad has gone down and I would speculate that DCA’s airspace would be closed so I’m not sure how realistic this training mission is. Seems like the protocol would be that if high level government officials need to be evacuated in an emergency that the first thing you do is close the DC airspace to commercial and private traffic.

The training is probably more about teaching what things are done on the ground before and after the chopper's in the air, as in protocols and the specific order of things done and not done, where they're done, chains of command and documentation, that sort of thing.

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On 2/2/2025 at 10:01 AM, Hagbard Celine said:

eaves 1000 hours

o'hara & lobach 500 hours each

training run was for "evacuation of potus/cabinet mission"

this was not training of "new" or "junior" pilots

imho the mh-60 boxes will be the tell

i remain of the opinion that the mh-60 was looking at the wrong jet either on approach to or departing runway 1

AND

the tower due to overtasking did not ask the mh-60 if they had the rj re-route from 1 to 33

AND

did the mh-60 have the rj traffic at 5 o'clock

 

salvage ops for the rj not yet underway

there is new data in this article

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/recovery-efforts-american-airlines-plane-crash-dc/63632198

 

I think there was a second RJ circling to 33 or on final to 01 that was told to go around. I’d bet they saw that one. 

Winds were 17 gusting to 25 knots from the NW at the time of the collision meaning the Blackhawk was crabbed into the wind and away from the collision aircraft. It might also explain some of the drift issues away from the east shoreline. Perhaps overcorrection. 

Take that helmet above, add NVGs and the peripheral vision isn’t great. 

Calling the traffic in sight and intent to maintain visual separation puts a lot of the onus on the pilot who accepts that. 

Tower understaffed and typically busy as DCA always is. 

 

A lot of Swiss cheese holes lined up for a tragedy. 

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